Mark 4–5

The Parable of the Sower

⁴Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.^{* 2}He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:^{* 3}“Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seed fell on a path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”^{* 9}And he said, “If you have ears to hear, then hear!”^*

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret^e of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything comes in parables,^{* 12}in order that

‘they may indeed look but not perceive,

and may indeed hear but not understand;

so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’ ”^*

¹³And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴The sower sows the word. ¹⁵These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.^{* 16}And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. ¹⁷But they have no root and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.^{f 18}And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, ¹⁹but the cares of the age and the lure of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. ²⁰And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”

A Lamp under a Bushel Basket

²¹He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket or under the bed and not on the lampstand? ²²For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light.^{* 23}If you have ears to hear, then hear!”^{* 24}And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and it will be added to you.^{* 25}For to those who have, more will be given, and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”^*

The Parable of the Growing Seed

²⁶He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground^{* 27}and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. ²⁸The earth produces of itself first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle because the harvest has come.”^*

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³⁰He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it?^{* 31}It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, ³²yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

The Use of Parables

³³With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it;^{* 34}he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.^*

Jesus Stills a Storm

³⁵On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.^{* 37}A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. ³⁸But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹And waking up, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Be silent! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. ⁴⁰He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”^{* 41}And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Jesus Heals a Man Possessed by Demons

⁵They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes.^{g 2}And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met him.^{* 3}He lived among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain, ⁴for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces, and no one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. ⁶When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him,^{* 7}and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”^{* 8}For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹Then Jesus^h asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” ¹⁰He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region. ¹¹Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding, ¹²and the unclean spiritsⁱ begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.” ¹³So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, stampeded down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.

¹⁴The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵They came to Jesus and saw the man possessed by demons sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion, and they became frightened.^{* 16}Those who had seen what had happened to the man possessed by demons and to the swine reported it. ¹⁷Then they began to beg Jesus^j to leave their neighborhood.^{* 18}As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹But Jesus^k refused and said to him, “Go home to your own people, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and what mercy he has shown you.” ²⁰And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed.^*

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

²¹When Jesus had crossed again in the boat^l to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him, and he was by the sea.^{* 22}Then one of the leaders of the synagogue, named Jairus, came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet^{* 23}and pleaded with him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.”^{* 24}So he went with him.

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. ²⁵Now there was a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years.^{* 26}She had endured much under many physicians and had spent all that she had, and she was no better but rather grew worse. ²⁷She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸for she said, “If I but touch his cloak, I will be made well.” ²⁹Immediately her flow of blood stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my cloak?” ³¹And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” ³²He looked all around to see who had done it. ³³But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. ³⁴He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

³⁵While he was still speaking, some people came from the synagogue leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” ³⁶But overhearing^m what they said, Jesus said to the synagogue leader, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” ³⁷He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. ³⁸When they came to the synagogue leader’s house, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” ⁴⁰And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. ⁴¹Taking her by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” ⁴²And immediately the girl stood up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. ⁴³He strictly ordered them that no one should know this and told them to give her something to eat.